Jrue Holiday is showing what being ‘here to win’ is all about

On Saturday, Jrue Holiday made some headlines when he seemingly agreed with Mavericks coach Jason Kidd’s assertion that Jaylen Brown is the Celtics’ best player. Holiday’s “I don’t think he’s lying” response was clearly meant to be supportive of Brown, but it was also spun by some to be a put-down of Jayson Tatum.

It was a misstep that Holiday acknowledged Sunday night, when he opened his press conference after the Celtics’ 105-98 Game 2 win by clarifying his comment from a day earlier and making it clear that he wasn’t trying to rank his teammates and that he considers Brown and Tatum to both be “superstars.”

That was the only misstep Holiday has made of late. On the court, the veteran guard continues to show why he has been a perfect addition to this Celtics team, doing anything and everything that is required of him in the pursuit of a championship. In Game 2, he needed to be a scorer, so he led the Celtics with a team-high 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting. He was also their leading rebounder, with 11. He has yet to commit a turnover in the Finals and has been a key part of the defensive effort to frustrate Dallas stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

When the Mavericks pulled within eight with 4:40 left in the game, it was Holiday and Derrick White who combined to slam the door shut, with White setting up Holiday for a three to push the lead to 11, and then Holiday setting up White for another 29 seconds later to make it a 14-point game.

Holiday has not played the role of go-to scorer often for the Celtics. That was a change, as he had played a bigger offensive role pretty much everywhere else he has been, including in Milwaukee, where he was the third-leading scorer on a championship team in 2020-21 and an All-Star just last season.

This season, Holiday was the Celtics’ fifth-leading scorer. He went from 19.3 points per game last season to 12.5 this year. He had no chance of sniffing another All-Star nod with that kind of role and those kinds of numbers.

Holiday didn’t and doesn’t care. He didn’t arrive in Boston looking for personal accolades. He knew why Brad Stevens and the Celtics brought him in, and their goals were aligned from Day 1.

“Utility guy. I’ll do whatever. I’m here to win,” Holiday said Sunday night. “Feel like they brought me here to win, and I’ll do my best to do that.”

And the best way for him to help the Celtics win was to play more of a supporting role behind Tatum and Brown, and even White and Kristaps Porzingis.

“At the end of the day, this is their team,” Holiday said, referencing Tatum and Brown. “I know it’s probably just as much my team as theirs, but — I feel like I’ve talked about this before — the pressure that they have on themselves to execute and to be great is a little bit different than my pressure. I’ve always been honest about that, and how they always handle themselves has been something that’s been so honorable. So, it’s just slightly different. They’re superstars and I’m here to support them.”

The Celtics rewarded the soon-to-be 34-year-old Holiday (his birthday is on Wednesday) for his support with a new four-year, $135 million extension in April. He continues to reward them with quiet leadership and championship pedigree.

“That experience, that just championship DNA, which you hear about all the time, you don’t really know what it takes until you do what it takes,” White said of Holiday. “I mean, just the moment he came to our team in training camp, he kind of just had that presence about him. He just knows how to win.”

White could have been someone whose role shrunk with Holiday’s arrival, but instead he had the best season of his career, with Holiday’s acceptance of a less ball-dominant role allowing White to thrive.

“I can’t begin to talk about how thankful and grateful I am for Jrue, kind of allowing me to kind of take that next step,” White said. “I mean, he could have easily came in like, ‘I’m Jrue Holiday,’ and I’d be like, ‘You are Jrue Holiday.’ But he kind of just did it a little different than what he’s done in the last few years.”

And when the Celtics do need Holiday to step up offensively, well, Sunday night was all the proof you need that he can still do that on the biggest stage.

“Tonight, they wanted to emphasize loading up, making us make the right reads over and over again, and Jrue had a lot of opportunities tonight and took advantage,” Brown said. “He’s just a hell of a player, a hell of a person, a great teammate. I credit the victory to him tonight. He played well.”

And as for that slight misstep on Saturday, Holiday’s teammates weren’t sweating it.

“Jrue is a great teammate, nothing short of that,” Brown said. “He’s brought championship pedigree to our team. So, nothing Jrue says we question. He comes in and he just is who he is. He’s got that demeanor, that killer-like mentality, and we respect it. He’s a great teammate, and it’s an honor to play next to him.”